2004 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 2004 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 45th conference playoff in league history and 50th season where a WCHA champion was crowned. The 2004 tournament was played between March 12 and March 20, 2004, at five conference arenas and the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Minnesota was awarded the Broadmoor Trophy and received the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

2004 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament
Dates	March 12–20, 2004
Teams	10
Finals site	Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, MN
Champions	Minnesota (13th title)
Winning coach	Don Lucia[1] (2nd title)
MVP	Kellen Briggs (Minnesota)
Attendance	82,564
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments ← 2003 2005 →

Format

The first round of the postseason tournament featured a best-of-three games format. All ten conference schools participated in the tournament with teams seeded No. 1 through No. 10 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top five seeded teams each earned home ice and hosted one of the lower seeded teams.

The winners of the first round series advanced to the Xcel Energy Center for the WCHA Final Five, the collective name for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds. The Final Five uses a single-elimination format. Teams were re-seeded No. 1 through No. 5 according to the final regular season conference standings, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the semifinals.

Conference standings

Note: PTS = Points; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

2003–04 Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings v t e
	Conference								Overall
	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#5 North Dakota†	28	20	5	3	43	122	62		41	30	8	3	182	90
#4 Minnesota–Duluth	28	19	7	2	40	119	71		45	28	13	4	185	123
#8 Wisconsin	28	14	7	7	35	85	62		43	22	13	8	123	93
#1 Denver	28	13	10	5	31	93	90		44	27	12	5	149	120
#6 Minnesota*	28	15	12	1	31	101	86		44	27	14	3	178	127
St. Cloud State	28	12	12	4	28	81	89		38	18	16	4	113	118
#15 Colorado College	28	11	15	2	24	77	75		39	20	16	3	126	98
Alaska–Anchorage	28	7	18	3	17	68	103		40	14	23	3	104	140
Minnesota State	28	6	18	4	16	83	139		39	10	24	5	124	179
Michigan Tech	28	6	19	3	15	66	118		38	8	25	5	97	161
Championship: Minnesota † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Final rankings: USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll Top 15 Poll

Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round

	First round[2] March 12–14							Quarterfinal[3] March 18					Semifinals March 19					Championship March 20
	1	North Dakota	6	4*	—
	10	Michigan Tech	2	3	—
													1	North Dakota	4
	2	Minnesota-Duluth	3	6	6			7	Colorado College	1			8	Alaska-Anchorage	2
	9	Minnesota State	4*	2	5			8	Alaska-Anchorage	4
	3	Wisconsin	2	4	1													1	North Dakota	4
	8	Alaska-Anchorage	3	0	4													5	Minnesota	5
	4	Denver	3	1	–
	7	Colorado College	4	6	–								2	Minnesota-Duluth	4
													5	Minnesota	7
	5	Minnesota	6	7	–
	6	St. Cloud State	1	3	–

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) North Dakota vs. (10) Michigan Tech

March 12[4]	North Dakota		6 – 2		Michigan Tech	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Stafford, Schneider) Zach Parise - 03:27		First period			08:39 - Clay Wilson
(Bochenski, Parise) Brady Murray - PP - 01:28 (Parise, Stafford) Nick Fuher - GW - 16:41		Second period			No scoring
(Parise, Murray) Drew Stafford - 00:26 (McMahon) Quinn Fylling - 01:44 (Lundbohm, Fuher) Colby Genoway - 07:25		Third period			05:14 - Justin Brown (Markham, Radovich)
( 13 saves / 15 shots ) Jake Brandt		Goalie stats			Cam Ellsworth ( 20 saves / 25 shots ) / Bryce Luker ( 7 saves / 8 shots )

March 13[5]	North Dakota		4 – 3	OT	Michigan Tech	Ralph Engelstad Arena	Recap
(Jones, Parise) Brnadon Bochenski - PP - 14:22		First period			11:21 - PP - Colin Murphy (Dora, Engelhardt) 19:00 - PP - Brandon Schwartz (Pittis)
No scoring		Second period			13:34 - Brett Engelhardt (Schwartz)
(Bochenski, Murray) Zach Parise - 05:39 (Fuher) Chris Porter - 08:53		Third period			No scoring
( 23 saves / 26 shots ) Jake Brandt		Goalie stats			Cam Ellsworth ( 42 saves / 46 shots )

North Dakota won series 2–0

(2) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (9) Minnesota State-Mankato

March 12[6]	Minnesota-Duluth		3 – 4	OT	Minnesota State-Mankato	Duluth Entertainment Convention Center	Recap
(Stapleton, Geisler) Luke Stauffacher - 06:02		First period			10:06 - Chad Clower (Metcalf)
(Peluso, Geisler) Junior Lessard - PP - 07:36 (Geisler, Smith) Justin Williams - 19:56		Second period			01:25 - PP - David Backes (Johns, Clower) 06:34 - Chad Clower (Forsythe, Morin)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			12:18 - GW - Lucas Fransen (Forscythe, Joseph)
( 34 saves / 38 shots ) Isaac Reichmuth		Goalie stats			Jon Volp ( 46 saves / 49 shots )

March 13[7]	Minnesota-Duluth		6 – 2		Minnesota State-Mankato	Duluth Entertainment Convention Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
(Unklesbay, Caig) Beau Geisler - 04:31 (Schwabe) Junior Lessard - 05:43 (Geisler, Schwabe) Junior Lessard - GW PP - 07:06 (Lessard, Geisler) Luke Stauffacher - 14:21		Second period			01:54 - Brock Becker (Rankin) 18:03 - Shane Joseph (Clower, Backes)
(Schwabe, Stapleton) Junior Lessard - PP - 06:04 (Lessard) Justin Williams - 14:21		Third period			No scoring
( 26 saves / 28 shots ) Isaac Reichmuth		Goalie stats			Jon Volp ( 38 saves / 44 shots ) / Kyle Nixon ( 5 saves / 5 shots )

March 14[8]	Minnesota-Duluth		6 – 5		Minnesota State-Mankato	Duluth Entertainment Convention Center	Recap
(Schwabe, Lessard) Marco Peluso - PP - 01:23 (Geisler, Smith) T. J. Caig - 02:33 (Hammond) John Miskovich - 04:53 (Peluso, Schwabe) Tim Stapleton - PP - 07:21 Marco Peluso - 10:32		First period			14:24 - SH - David Backes (Joseph)
(Peluso, Geisler) Evan Schwabe - GW PP - 06:35		Second period			01:48 - PP - Rob Rankin (Morin, Peto) 11:44 - PP - Brock Becker (Morin, Peto) 19:48 - Lucas Fransen (Kisio, Thompson)
No scoring		Third period			15:38 - Shane Joseph (McKelvie, Peto)
( 26 saves / 28 shots ) Isaac Reichmuth		Goalie stats			Jon Volp ( 11 saves / 15 shots ) / Kyle Nixon ( 26 saves / 28 shots )

Minnesota-Duluth won series 2–1

(3) Wisconsin vs. (8) Alaska-Anchorage

March 12[9]	Wisconsin		2 – 3		Alaska-Anchorage	Kohl Center	Recap
(Earl, Likens) Jake Dowell - PP - 02:51		First period			09:01 - PP - Dallas Steward (Segal, Bourne) 18:54 - PP - Charlie Kronschnabel (Fournier, King)
(Gilbert, Suter) Ross Carlson - PP - 05:14		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			05:56 - GW PP - Justin Johnson (Fournier, Glencross)
( 21 saves / 24 shots ) Bernd Brückler		Goalie stats			Chris King ( 45 saves / 47 shots )

March 13[10]	Wisconsin		4 – 0		Alaska-Anchorage	Kohl Center	Recap
Rene Bourque - GW - 02:00		First period			No scoring
(Earl, Dowell) A.J. Degenhardt - 02:39 (Bourque, Joudrey) Ryan MacMurchy - 03:24 (Burish) A.J. Degenhardt - 14:30		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
( 16 saves / 16 shots ) Bernd Brückler		Goalie stats			Kevin Reiter ( 41 saves / 45 shots )

March 14[11]	Wisconsin		1 – 4		Alaska-Anchorage	Kohl Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			10:42 - Chris Fournier (Segal)
No scoring		Second period			08:38 - GW - Chris Fournier 12:33 - PP - Curtis Glencross (Fournier, Smith) 18:30 - Curtis Glencross
(MacMurchy, Boeser) Andrew Joudrey - PP - 13:05		Third period			No scoring
( 19 saves / 23 shots ) Bernd Brückler		Goalie stats			Chris King ( 29 saves / 30 shots )

Alaska-Anchorage won series 2–1

(4) Denver vs. (7) Colorado College

March 12[12]	Denver		3 – 4		Colorado College	Magness Arena	Recap
(Handza, Halme) Ted O'Leary - 10:02		First period			04:07 - Marty Sertich (Canzanello, Zaba)
(Corbin, Skinner) Gabe Gauthier - 13:38		Second period			No scoring
(Carle, Keith) Lukas Dora - PP - 13:53		Third period			07:22 - Andrew Canzanello (Cox, Slattengren) 09:57 - Trevor Frischmon (Stuart, Canzanello) 11:48 - GW - Aaron Slattengren (Petiot, Cox)
( 22 saves / 26 shots ) Adam Berkhoel		Goalie stats			Matt Zaba ( 18 saves / 21 shots )

March 13[13]	Denver		1 – 6		Colorado College	Magness Arena	Recap
No Scoring		First period			11:43 - Colin Stuart (Polaski, Sweatt) 15:27 - GW - Brett Sterling (Petoit, Liebel) 18:24 - Reid Goolsby (Slattengren, Crabb)
(Carle, Skinner) Gabe Gauthier - PP - 05:00		Second period			08:20 - PP - Brady Greco (Canzanello, Sertich) 17:46 - PP - Brady Greco (Stuart, Sertich)
No scoring		Third period			06:50 - PP - Brett Sterling (Canzanello, Crabb)
( 10 saves / 13 shots ) Adam Berkhoel / ( 13 saves / 16 shots ) Glenn Fisher		Goalie stats			Curtis McElhinney ( 35 saves / 36 shots )

Colorado College won series 2–0

(5) Minnesota vs. (6) St. Cloud State

March 12[14]	Minnesota		6 – 1		St. Cloud State	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Fleming) Mike Vannelli - 10:02 (Riddle, Vanek) Matt Koalska - GW PP - 14:58		First period			12:30 - Brock Hooton (Szabo, Jensen)
(Martin, Riddle) Thomas Vanek - 06:18 (Vanek, Kennedy) Ryan Potulny - 09:44 (Vannelli) Troy Riddle - 14:44		Second period			No scoring
(Riddle, Ballard) Ryan Potulny - PP - 15:21		Third period			No scoring
( 26 saves / 27 shots ) Kellen Briggs		Goalie stats			Aaron Coole ( 14 saves / 18 shots ) / Tim Boron ( 19 saves / 21 shots )

March 13[15]	Minnesota		7 – 3		St. Cloud State	Mariucci Arena	Recap
(Ballard, Riddle) Ryan Potulny - PP - 19:46		First period			No scoring
(Riddle) Ryan Potulny - 12:52 (Potulny, Ballard) Troy Riddle - PP - 19:14		Second period			00:22 - Brock Hooton (Szabo)
(Vanek, Koalska) Troy Riddle - GW PP - 01:39 (Tallackson, Guyer) Grant Potulny - PP - 07:16 (Vanek, Vannelli) Troy Riddle - 08:38 (Potulny, Tallackson) Tyler Hirsch - 09:13		Third period			00:24 - SH - Matt Hendricks (Reeder) 09:33 - Konrad Reeder (Peters, Doyle)
( 23 saves / 26 shots ) Kellen Briggs		Goalie stats			Tim Boron ( 39 saves / 46 shots )

Minnesota won series 2–0

Quarterfinal

(7) Colorado College vs. (8) Alaska-Anchorage

March 18[16]	Colorado College		1 – 4		Alaska-Anchorage	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			No scoring
(Sterling, Polaski) Trevor Frischmon - 09:21		Second period			09:51 - Brandon Segal (Anderson, Arcand-Kootenay) 10:41 - GW - Vladimir Novak (Johnson, Gilchrist) 19:24 - Brant McMann (Novak)
No scoring		Third period			19:43 - EN - Dallas Steward (Kronschnabel, Green)
( 7 saves / 9 shots ) Matt Zaba / ( 7 saves / 8 shots ) Curtis McElhinney		Goalie stats			Chris King ( 44 saves / 45 shots )

Semifinals

(1) North Dakota vs. (8) Alaska-Anchorage

March 19[17]	North Dakota		4 – 2		Alaska-Anchorage	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Parise, Bochenski) Brady Murray - 15:56		First period			No scoring
(Hale, Prpich) Rory McMahon - 02:16 (Bochenski, Murray) Zach Parise - GW - 09:01 (Jones, McMahon) Ryan Hale - 15:50		Second period			10:30 - PP - Curtis Glencross (Bourne, Segal)
No scoring		Third period			17:18 - Lee Green
( 22 saves / 24 shots ) Jordan Parise		Goalie stats			Chris King ( 41 saves / 45 shots )

(2) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (5) Minnesota

March 19[18]	Minnesota-Duluth		4 – 7		Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Stapleton, Peluso) Luke Stauffacher - 02:08 (Unklesbay, Geisler) Evan Schwabe - 09:06 (Williams, Lessard) Evan Schwabe - 14:21		First period			14:03 - PP - Troy Riddle (Potulny, Koalska) 19:25 - Danny Irmen (Guyer, Fleming)
No scoring		Second period			04:51 - SH - Danny Irmen (Ballard) 14:25 - Ryan Potulny
(Schwabe, Lessard) Justin Williams - 00:40		Third period			03:45 - GW - Thomas Vanek (Riddle, Koalska) 14:41 - Andy Sertich (Waibel, Vannelli) 19:24 - Barry Tallackson (Waibel, Fleming)
( 34 saves / 40 shots ) Isaac Reichmuth		Goalie stats			Kellen Briggs ( 27 saves / 31 shots )

Third place

(2) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (8) Alaska-Anchorage

March 20[19]	Minnesota-Duluth		4 – 2		Alaska-Anchorage	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
No Scoring		First period			12:14 - Curtis Glencross (Arcand-Kootenay, Reiter)
(Peluso, Lessard) Evan Schwabe - PP - 09:30 (Geisler, Peluso) Junior Lessard - PP - 13:12 (Hammond, Czech) Luke Stauffacher - GW SH - 19:14		Second period			No scoring
(Miskovich) Bryan McGregor - 10:13		Third period			19:42 - Vladimir Novak (Smith, Johnson)
( 25 saves / 27 shots ) Josh Johnson		Goalie stats			Kevin Reiter ( 36 saves / 40 shots )

Championship

(1) North Dakota vs. (5) Minnesota

March 20[20]	North Dakota		4 – 5		Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	Recap
(Parise) Drew Stafford - PP - 16:57		First period			10:39 - Danny Irmen (Guyer, Harrington)
(Parise, Schneider) Brandon Bochenski - 08:50 (Fuher, Bochenski) Zach Parise - 16:47		Second period			04:09 - Jon Waibel (Kennedy)
(Parise, Smaby) Brandon Bochenski - SH - 09:18		Third period			02:08 - Thomas Vanek 04:48 - Troy Riddle (Harrington, Koalska) 13:58 - GW - Grant Potulny (Irmen)
( 33 saves / 38 shots ) Jake Brandt		Goalie stats			Kellen Briggs ( 35 saves / 39 shots )

Tournament awards

All-Tournament Team

• F Zach Parise (North Dakota)
• F Danny Irmen (Minnesota)
• F Brandon Bochenski (North Dakota)
• D Matt Jones (North Dakota)
• D Keith Ballard (Minnesota)
• G Kellen Briggs* (Minnesota)

* Most Valuable Player(s)

^[21]

See also

• Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's champions

References

1. "Minnesota Men's Team History". Archived from the original on April 15, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
2. "WCHA men's Hockey 2003-04 Week 25". USCHO.com. March 14, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
3. "WCHA men's Hockey 2003-04 Week 26". USCHO.com. March 20, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
4. "North Dakota 6, Michigan Tech 2". USCHO.com. March 12, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
5. "North Dakota 4, Michigan Tech 3". USCHO.com. March 13, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
6. "Minnesota State 4, Minnesota-Duluth 3". USCHO.com. March 12, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
7. "Minnesota-Duluth 6, Minnesota State 2". USCHO.com. March 13, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
8. "Minnesota-Duluth 6, Minnesota State 5". USCHO.com. March 14, 2004. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
9. "Alaska-Anchorage 3, Wisconsin 2". USCHO.com. March 12, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
10. "Wisconsin 4, Alaska-Anchorage 0". USCHO.com. March 13, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
11. "Alaska-Anchorage 4, Wisconsin 1". USCHO.com. March 14, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
12. "Colorado College 4, Denver 3". USCHO.com. March 12, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
13. "Colorado College 6, Denver 1". USCHO.com. March 13, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
14. "Minnesota 6, St. Cloud State 1". USCHO.com. March 12, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
15. "Minnesota 7, St. Cloud State 3". USCHO.com. March 13, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
16. "Alaska-Anchorage 4, Colorado College 1". USCHO.com. March 18, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
17. "North Dakota 4, Alaska-Anchorage 2". USCHO.com. March 19, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
18. "Minnesota 7, Minnesota-Duluth 4". USCHO.com. March 19, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
19. "Minnesota-Duluth 4, Alaska-Anchorage 2". USCHO.com. March 20, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
20. "Minnesota 5, North Dakota 4". USCHO.com. March 20, 2004. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
21. "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.

External links

• WCHA official site Archived 2008-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
• 2003–04 WCHA Standings
• 2003–04 NCAA Standings